This timely workshop presents how to set up advice, practical idea suggestions, and resources for creating art, science, career awareness, and hands on collaboration and learning into your classroom.

The following are a small sampling of recent comments from a previous class designed for librarians:

Maker space programming is a simple way to reinvent your library space into a fun learning environment for your patrons and community. Programs that are geared to smaller crowds work well in our indoor physical space but larger programs and projects work well on our large lawn. I like knowing that there doesn't have to be a product, but rather the process of learning is your gift. Thank you!

The most helpful information I gleaned here are the programming ideas that can be discovered through the lecture links. I know I can be organized, but coming up with ideas is not so easy. Looking at what others have done can help my library get this maker program up and running.I'm glad to say that I'm feeling very inspired by this class. I'm also glad to say that my department head is excited, too, so I think, by January, we'll have something going.

I've gained some new ideas for programs and activities that I hope to incorporate in our new space. I've also learned more about what safety equipment we should have on site, and what safety rules and regulations we should post.

I think there can be a lot of value in Maker Spaces in the School Library. It will be a little different to implement and manage than in a public library setting, but still very feasible! I intend to try one different project per term this school year, starting with the 3D pens (2nd term), origami (3rd term) and making a chair for the Media Center out of cardboard boxes (4th term). This class helped me to clarify my vision so that I could successfully implement a plan.

There is a kind of revolution going on in classroom programming. Whether you call them Maker, Community, or Hacker Spaces, these DIY working areas in libraries have become a popular meeting and creative program space for patrons of all ages. Now you can bring the Makerspace to your classroom.

Much more than a make it and take it the Maker Space provides the tools, instruction, and company of others that inspire and enable creative making. The programs are most popular with teens and young adults but can include college and university level students of all ages.

Maker program participant activities range from learning Fine Art Painting skills to creating Ancient Astronomical Instruments and everything in between. Co-creaters and subject experts may collaborate to build robots, a new business, 3-D graphic T-shirts, or bicycle sculpture. It's not just primarily physical doing that happens at the Maker Space. Teen and older Maker activities can include poetry making, writing workshops, language coding and other intellectual pursuits.

Participants will receive excellent resources that they can begin using immediately to plan and present a Maker-station program of their own.

Online Workshop 12 hours Overall

Unit 1-This week we will explore the definition of MakerSpace. We will look at specific examples in various school classrooms and begin to learn how to create one yourself in your own school.

Unit 2- we will continue to look at techniques for creating a maker-stations, tools and supplies you will need and how to locate materials and experts to facilitate programming. Safety issues will also be addressed. Designing space. What skills do participants learn?

Unit 3-The best of Makerspace Programming ideas. This week we will look at a numer of projects and programs that you can begin offering today in your classroom.

Unit 4-Sorting programs using Age, Interest, and Budget as a factor. Create a MakerSpace program proposal.

Instructor Valerie Colston, M.A. is a university art instructor and author. Her book 200 Projects to Strengthen Your Art Skills published by Barrons Educational Series has received outstanding reviews appearing in School Library Journal, National Art Education Association newsletter, and more. Her "It's Easy to be a Green Teen" appeared in the youth librarian publication Voices of Youth Advocates. She has written Teens Go Green! Tips, Techniques, Tools and Themes for YA Programming. Libraries Unlimited Professional guides for Young Adult Librarians Series published in December 2012. Her artwork was included in a group show titled HOME at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. Colston has been teacher Maker Space Programming Idea to Librarians and Museum Staff for several years.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

November is the perfect time to create STEAM filled Arts and Crafts in your classroom, afterschool program, library, museum, or home. Art Teacher on the NetatArtmuseums.com, shares ideas on how to put the “A” Art in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning this November.

1.Study the Leaves. Fall is a perfect time to examine the amazing colors of the leaves. Take your group on a field trip and studying the many colors of Autumn. Encourage Tweens and Teens to take pictures with their cell phones and tablets. Gather the leaves and then make your own artwork using Diffusing Leavesand Color Splash Liquid Watercolor.

2.Experiment with Different Medias While Making Leaf Rubbings. Use Colored Pencils, Markers, Crayons, and Pastel, and experiment with different types of paper such as parchment, construction paper, tracing paper, and even recycled newsprint to create amazing works of art. Be sure to point out the veins that carry nutrients and other scientific terminologies that make up the anatomy of the fallen leaves. Explain that the season has changed and the leaf has stopped producing chlorophyll so now we can see the other colors of the leaf.

3.Make a Mayflower. Use a plastic recycled water bottle, mini craft sticks, white tag board for the sails, and quality Alene’s Tacky Glue to create your own Mayflower ship. Be sure to discuss the science of why it floats and remember to paint the sails and the body of the ship using acrylic paint.

4.Weave a Native American Basket. Thanksgiving is a great time to use your math skills and learn to weave. Use recycled plastic bags also known as plarn (plastic yarn) to create a basket or make a more traditional one with the jute kit.

7.Design a Children’s Thanksgiving Table. Use cardboard, found objects, empty water bottles, or just paper and pencil to create a unique table made especially for children celebrating Thanksgiving. Be sure to take a photo of the table. Don’t forget the paint and brushes to embellish the cardboard table.

8.Watch the Macys Day Parade. Enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving Day parade and then create a shoebox tableau of your own with your group. You will need Alene’s Tacky Glue, glitter, paint, and clay, along with found and recycled objects.

Tell Them Thank You. Use recycled paper and found objects to create thank you cards to give to all the people you love this Thanksgiving, especially those closest to you.

ArtMuseums.com is an award winning online resource for teachers, librarians, afterschool group leaders, museum staff and parents. ArtMuseums.com has been a highly recommended art education resource for quality art projects and art activities online since 1998, and currently offers free art resources, important information for those making maker spaces, professional development opportunities, and STEM and STEAM curriculum, and an Ask an Expert feature.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

When it comes to paintings, the example of
what a father should be, the one that most appeals to me, is The
Prodigal Son. The subject comes to us from the Bible (Luke 15:11- 32.)
One of my favorite paintings of the prodigal is at the Timken Gallery in
Balboa Park in San Diego, California.

The artwork titled The Return of the Prodigal Son
by Il Guercino is an oil on canvas painted in the mid 17th century. It
is a relatively large painting at 61-l/4 x 57-1/2 inches. When I look
at the painting I immediately think of an opera. There are three
figures standing on a stage like environment dressed in biblical time
attire. An older man stands in the middle of two young men, one dressed
in fine clothing pulling back a curtain that will lead to a homecoming
feast, the other (the prodigal) barely dressed with only a cloth and
animal skins to hide his nakedness. Each of the three figures has a
story to tell the viewer.

Since it is Father’s Day, let’s take a
look a closer look at the patriarch of this family. It all begins when
his son gets an idea that he should have his inheritance sooner than
later. Why not have the money now! The father allows him to take the
money. He allows him to make his own decisions and mistakes. Sadly,
the son ends up going to a foreign country and mismanaging his
money-spending it on all the wrong things. The son ends up without
food, clothing, or a decent place to live. Actually, he ends up living
with the pigs. Not a good place for a Jewish boy.

But the
thoughtful boy gets a bright idea. He knows his father is a kind and
merciful man and that his servants have a better life than he does. The
son may be ashamed of what has happened to him but isn’t afraid of the
older man. He knows he can count on him. He reasons he can come home
and won’t be turned away. So, he does go home and what happens to him?
Does the father beat him for being so stupid? Does he cast him out?
No, we see that he forgives him. In this artist rendition the father
lovingly cradles him with a special garment, he guides him with his
strong arms toward the celebration. The father is thankful that his son
who had been lost is now found. He is safe in his father’s care again.

Of course, the lesson of the story is the love of God for his own
children. We can be forgiven and return to the comfort of the ultimate
Father. We can start over again. But, what about the other figure? Is
he the son who stayed, or the servant? What do you think?